Ronaldo hat-trick fires Real into cup quarters
Reuters - Wednesday 09 January 2013, 22:34
Cristiano Ronaldo was the decisive figure for the second time in four
days as he scored a hat-trick to lead Real Madrid to a 4-0 victory over
Celta Vigo that put them in the quarter-finals of the King's Cup on
Wednesday.
The Portugal
forward, runner-up to Lionel Messi in Monday's World Player of the Year
awards, netted twice inside the first 25 minutes at the Bernabeu and
sealed the victory near the end after Sergio Ramos had been sent off.
Real's 5-2 aggregate win set up a meeting with Valencia next week.
"It
needs to be pointed out, Cristiano has scored four goals across the
tie," Real director Emilio Butragueno told Spanish television.
"His contribution has been decisive. He has been the player of the tie, and we are lucky to have him."
Real
Zaragoza were 2-0 winners at home to Levante with goals from Franco
Zuculini and Francisco Montanes to progress 3-0 on aggregate, and set up
a last-eight meeting with Sevilla.
The
2010 Cup winners Sevilla were never seriously troubled having won 5-0
away at Real Mallorca in their first leg, and in a sparsely populated
Sanchez Pizjuan progressed 6-2 on aggregate.
The cup has taken on added importance for Jose Mourinho's Real with
Barcelona leading them by 16 points in La Liga and, after losing 2-1 in
Vigo, the pressure was on.
Mourinho
fielded the strongest side available to him with Iker Casillas restored
to the starting line-up after being dropped to the substitutes' bench
for the last two games.
The
return of the popular Spain number one led to cheers when his name was
read out before kick-off, while Mourinho's was once again met with a
mixture of whistles and applause.
His stewardship of the club has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks from local media and disgruntled fans.
"This
is a stadium that is very demanding," Butragueno replied when asked
about the whistles for Mourinho, who did not speak after the game.
"I
remember the fans here getting on my back too, the most important thing
was the team's performance, particularly in the first half."
SWERVING SHOT
It
was Celta who sprang the surprises, leaving regulars such as leading
scorer Iago Aspas on the bench, and the hosts threatened to swamp the
Galicians in the first half.
Ronaldo
struck a swerving shot from wide on the touchline, which flew inside
the far post after only two minutes to set the tone.
Luka
Modric floated a ball through for Ronaldo to stroke in the second in
the 25th and it was something of a surprise he did not have his
hat-trick by half-time.
Real's
influential midfielder Xabi Alonso exited with a neck strain at the
break, and his loss helped to breathe life into the visitors.
Ramos
picked up a second yellow card when he fouled Augusto Fernandez in the
73rd, and Casillas was forced into some sharp saves.
Ronaldo rode to the rescue again, as he had done with two second-half goals in the 4-3 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday.
A
lung-bursting sprint down the pitch enabled him to latch on to Gonzalo
Higuain's pass and fire in his third in the 87th, and Khedira finished
off another counter-attack a minute later.